Understanding the Adolescent Brain and Behavior in the Context of Foster Care.

1. Understanding the Adolescent Brain and Behavior in the Context of Foster Care. Victor Rico, Ph.D. Staff Psychologist UCLA TIES for Families 1000 Veteran Avenue, Box 957142 Los Angeles, CA  90095-7142 o - (310) 825-6110 f - (310) 794-4996

2. UCLA TIES for Families Model • Intensive supports for high-risk children at time of transition to adoptive home • Pre-match education for parents • Pre-placement interdisciplinary consultation • Mental health services • Support groups • Child therapy, parent counseling, family therapy • Testing • Psychiatric, pediatric & educational consultation and advocacy, occupational therapy, speech/language assessment, behavioral services, and mentoring.

3. Brain Development:Lobes of the brain The four lobes of the brain process different types of information and control different functions. • Parietal Lobe: Responsible for touch, smell and taste. • Temporal Lobe: Processes hearing and some language. • Occipital Lobe: Brains vision center. • Frontal Lobe: Controls thinking, planning, and reasoning processes.

4. Experience Grows the Brain Brain development happens from the bottom up: From primitive (basic survival) To more complex (rational thought, planning, abstract thinking)

5. Experience Grows the Brain(Continued) The brain develops by forming connections (neural pathways). Interactions with caregivers are critical tobrain development. The more an experience is repeated, the stronger the connections become.

6. Trauma Derails Development On constant alert for danger Quick to react to threats (fight, flight, freeze) Exposure to trauma causes the brain to develop in a way that will help the child survive in a dangerous world: The stress hormones produced during trauma also interfere with the development of higher brain functions. Source: Teicher., M. H. (2002). Scars that won't heal: The neurobiology of child abuse. Scientific American,286 (3),68-75.

7. Your Internal Alarm System If the threat is removed, everything returnsto normal The brain releases chemicals that help the body to respond to the threat (fight, flight, freeze)

8. Your Internal Alarm System (Continued) If the threat continues or is repeated, the system stays on "red alert“ Severe or chronic trauma=Stuck in “On”-hormones keep flowing, can’t think, plan efficiently. When were you last frightened? Lost? Could you think clearly? The brain releases chemicals that help the body to respond to the threat (fight, flight, freeze)

9. Young Children (0–5)

10. School-Aged Children (6–12)

11. Adolescents (13–21)

12. The Invisible Suitcase About themselves. About the adults who care for them. About the world in general. Kids carry these from placement to placement, school to school, and childhood to adulthood. Trauma shapes children’s beliefs and expectations:

13. The Invisible Suitcase

14. Getting Development Back on Track • Good news: Traumatized children and adolescents can learn new ways of thinking, relating, and responding. (Cortex develops into adulthood). • New, positive experiences=new neural pathways and bypasses. • Rational thought and self-awareness can help children override primitive brain responses. • Unlearning—and rebuilding—takes time.

15. Case Conceptualization Considerations • Trauma • Loss and grief • Attachment

16. Critical Developmental Tasks for Adolescents • Identity and awareness of self – who am I? • Two connections/families to figure out similarities and differences. • Fantasies of birth parents. • Questions arise about birth parents and selves. • Seek greater independence and autonomy • Previous loss issues may re-emerge • Separation from not only one set of parents, but multiple sets – the birth family, foster family, and adoptive family. • Fear of abandonment and rejection.

17. Critical Developmental Tasks (continued) • Seek belongingness • Feelings of difference and issues of permanence need to be addressed. • Seek peer group for support and acceptance. • Cognitive changes • Questions about the reason they were placed in foster care: explore issues of rejection, abandonment, etc. • Biological changes in puberty • Birth histories may re-emerge

18. Why can working with foster/adopt teens be Difficult? • Teens may stop talking to create distance from caregivers and other adults. • Foster/Adopt teens may not be able to articulate what they are feelings, even to themselves. • Thoughts about birth parents may make teens feel disloyal to their current caregivers/family.

19. How to Effectively work with foster/adopt Teens • Parent/Caregivers/Workers needs to send a clear message that they are open and willing to talk about the teen’s history, foster care, and/or adoption. • Direct vs. indirect approaches • Respect teens’ feelings and value their opinion. • Examine what the teen is trying to say in his/her behavior. • Share information – it is their story. • Help teens make connections to his/her heritage and past.

20. Continued … • Offer a secure base of love and protection. • Be emotionally and physically available. • Recognize and respond to the their needs. • Provide guidance and example. • Provide opportunities to safely explore the world. Source: Better Brains for Babies. (2007). Attachments and the role of the caregiver. Available at http://www.fcs.uga.edu/ext/bbb/attachCareGiver.php

21. Questions?